I’m crazy about anything mung beans, whether they are sweet or savoury. I just love how there so many Vietnamese snack foods which are made with mung beans. One of my favourite are these sweet mung bean glutenous rice balls. The thin glutenous rice layer on the outside is very soft and chewy and is coated with fluffy mung bean powder. The filling is a delicious mung bean paste with shredded coconut. I used to buy these glutenous rice balls from a Vietnamese grocer but since my girls love it so much that I decided to make them. I find that the bought ones are too sweet so it was better to make them and reduce the amount of sugar.

Drain the soaked mung beans. Steam the mung beans for about 20 minutes or until the grain is soft enough that you can mash it with your fingers. Place cooked mung beans into a large bowl.

In a large bowl, combine the coconut milk and sugar until and stir until most of the sugar is dissolved.

Measure 2 cups of steamed mung beans add to the coconut and sugar mixture, mix well. Keep the remaining mung beans in a dry bowl and leave it uncovered to dry as it will be processed to a powder to coat the outside of the glutenous rice balls.

Transfer the mung bean mixture to a mortar and using a pestle work to a fine paste.

Add the shredded coconut and vanilla extract to the mung bean paste. Combine the mixture well.

Form the mung bean paste into 3cm balls and place onto a plate.

In a large bowl, add the glutenous rice flour and a pinch of salt. Pour in the water and mix the flour and work it into a soft dough. If the dough is dry and breaks, add one or more teaspoons of water.

Once the dough is ready, break a piece of dough the size of your thumb and roll into a ball, then using your fingers flatten the dough to a very thin layer. Place a mung bean ball into the centre and wrap the dough around. If there are holes pinch a bit of dough and patch the holes. Repeat until all the dough and mung bean are all used up.

Put the remaining of the steamed mung bean in the mortar or food processor and work the mung bean until it becomes a fine powder. A food processor gives it a finer texture and faster.

In a saucepan, heat a pot of water. Once the water boil, add the dumplings into the water and cook until the dumplings float. Remove the dumplings one at a time and roll the hot dumpling in the mung bean powder.

Comments

Oh cool, I like how there are mung beans inside AND outside of these. I love glutinous rice morsels and really need to make some myself one of these days… am sure I’ll be referring to this recipe soon! At least I have the excuse of being far away from my kitchen at the moment.